OEV HD28 .M414 ALFRED P. WORKING PAPER SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF U.S. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS A NEGOTIATIONS PERSPECTIVE Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld Robert McKersie Richard Walton August 1989 WP# 3056-89-BPS MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY 50 MEMORIAL DRIVE CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139 DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF U.S. INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: A NEGOTIATIONS PERSPECTIVE Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld Robert McKersie Richard Walton August 1989 WP# 3056-89-BPS AUG 1 8 1989 Qcnauax ; I RESOLUTION AND THE DlSPl'TE TRANSFORMATION OF U.S. INDl'STRIAL RELATIONS: A NEGOTIATIONS PERSPECTIVE^ by Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Robert McKersie, and Richard Walton' INTRODUCTION: Virtually every industry in the United States changes own in industrial relations is grappling with fundamental and organizational arrangements. In the course of our research tracing these changes (Kochan, Katz and McKersie, 1986; Walton, 1988; Cutcher-Gershenfeld, 1988), it has become clear that the degree and nature of change varies greatly across industries, within a single industry, and even within a single firm. As well, upon close examination, the variation can be understood as the product of a highly negotiated set of interactions among stakeholders to the employment relationship. This paper is a progress report on current research aimed understanding of the current variation underway been selected processes. As in three industries to represent a well, number of other we are — deepening in industrial relations practice via the examination of negotiations processes. In are at this research we have examined changes paper, railroads, and auto supply that — which have range of competitive pressures and a range of production drawing on our own prior research on current changes in a industries, including shipping, automobile manufacturing, airlines. ^ These remarks represent preliminary findings from a larger study on the negotiations processes associated with fundamental change in industrial relations. The study is being conducted by Robert McKersie, Richard Walton and Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld with support from the W.E. Upjohn Foundation for Employment Research. Research assistance on the project has been provided by Kathleen Scharf and Patrick McHugh. ^ Names listed in alphabetical order. The authors are on the faculties of Michigan State University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University, respectively. 1 and electronic office products. The paper section traces changes is and strategic options divided into two main sections; the and the second section in three industries examines the implications for theory and practice. At the outset, however, important to note that the material reported here is first highly preliminary it is — we are presenting our current thinking at this stage of the research, rather than any final conclusions. PART NEW PATTERNS 1: IN LABOR-MANAGEMENT NEGOTIATIONS observe two dominant avenues by which labor and management have engaged We in negotiations that have led to fundamental changes in industrial relations. The first avenue involves urgent pressure — typically from management — for changes that are seen as essential for organizational survival. bargaining" to characterize the set We will be using the term "necessity of interactions associated with such pressure. The second avenue emerges out the broad range of activities that labor and management leaders may agree to jointly establish and administer, including training, employee involvement, health and safety, new technology, employee assistance programs, job security, absenteeism, health care, and strategic planning. We will be using the term "administrative bargaining" to characterize the set of interactions associated with these joint initiatives. In order to illustrate the concepts of necessity bargaining administrative bargaining, as well as to place them in context, we and will begin with an examination of three highly contrasting U.S. industries. Throughout the analysis Table 1, in this section of the paper, we will which examines management's short-run and long-run in three industries. responses. These abilities are then linked in the As the format of the table implies, management that is the point of departure for Insert Table it is ability to impose to to change bargaining the strategic choices facing much 1 Table make reference of the analysis presented here. Here The Paper Industry The industry has been heavily unionized by one dominant union, Paper Workers, and remains heavily unionized. The primary approach the past several years has been via lowering labor bargaining as costs. major holidays), to the elimination of industry, to change over what we would term necessity bargaining, aimed In this context, demands it the United management becomes to eliminate "cold days" at the driving force in (when the mills are shut down for reduce Sunday premium pay, and to develop more flexibility via work rules. many companies While imports have not been a major factor in this find their overall rates of return to be unsatisfactory and they realize that their compensation costs are typically far above market rates for the (mostly rural) communities within which their facilities are located. The strong desire on the part of the companies to lower labor costs has substantial resistance on the part of the workers involved. out strikes have occurred at mills The strong resistance the industry persuasive. is is For example, long, drawn- owned by Boise-Cascade and International Paper. explained primarily by the fact that the financial pressure on not so severe as to make the demands of the company compellingly Walton (1988) notes that economic pressure needs capture the attention of the workforce, but not so severe as to seem is fruitless. met to be severe enough to make any adaptation Thus, we would conclude that economic pressure in the paper industry on the low side of what would be considered a motivating level of economic Another factor that fosters full-fledged confrontation unilateral implementation of changes in work practices. is stress. the employer strategy of Paper companies seem to have perfected the techniques of operating plants with supervisors, hiring replacements and instituting changes with the and auto supply — where crew), it new workforce. Unlike our other two it is very difficult to attain full production with a skeletal has been feasible in paper (and other continuous-process industries) for management to operate the facilities for a sustained period of time. reason that management's ability to impose short-term change "high." industries (railroads is It is for this classified in Table 1 as Thus, in the short-run, a open conflict. Interestingly, number of relationships have deteriorated to the point of in this contentious context, been quietly pursing change on a more cooperative basis. some paper companies have In effect, they offer the union an alternative of seeking change more gradually and quietly, without the breakdown in labor-management relations. This quieter, more cooperative path not is characterized by the same urgency and depth of change in contractual issues as necessity bargaining, but nor has administrative bargaining. An it lead to extensive change via joint governance interesting long-run set of questions is and whether the quieter approach will evolve into broader administrative bargaining and whether the approach direct, necessity bargaining the quieter, to change will lead to different outcomes than more cooperative approach. Over time, there necessity bargaining. is some evidence on the long-term dynamics associated with the While the confrontations associated with necessity bargaining are certainly significant emotional events, there are indications that the contention somewhat least is at For example, after a bitter strike at the Rumford Mill of reversible. Boise Cascade, the parties have recently opened negotiations early and signed a long- term agreement that appears to meet the parties' mutual objectives. While there are some nonunion mills that have been opened in new locations, the more typical pattern seems expansion and upgrading of existing facilities to be the (where unions are very much a part of the scene). strategy of opening up a nonunion greenfield mill due to the high fixed capital costs. ability to avoid the union in Table This 1 is We relationship are not now is as "low." in a position to contrasting alternatives that quieter, from the inability of is that the not easily available to the parties why we have classified the long-term Thus, from an analytical point of view, an important determinant of the apparent need management The evidence suggests to improve the long-run labor- management to move its facilities. provide any definitive evaluation of the we observe in the paper industry. On the one hand, the more cooperative approach produces change, but slowly. The long-term this approach could be substantial, but there is not yet evidence regarding results whether the potential will be realized. On the other hand, clear that the necessity is it bargaining approach leads to significant changes in the short run, but usually at a very high cost to morale and the quality of the labor-management relationship. Over the long run, there is some evidence that some degree of reconciliation the paper industry seems broadly divided between two dynamics is -- Thus, possible. one that involved escalating, highly contentious necessity bargaining followed by reconciliation; and the other that involves quiet, cooperative initiatives that expand in scope at a slow pace. The Railroad Industry By many measures, the railroad industry has undergone substantial change over Employment has dropped the past ten to fifteen years. lines have been sold to in half and a number independent operators, often with dramatic changes of branch in contractual arrangements. However, by comparison with other industries where significant changes have occurred in compensation arrangements and work rules, the core features of collective bargaining arrangements in this industry have primarily remained intact. Hence, short and long-term dimensions of Table 1 for the railroad industries are labeled as "status quo." The factors. industry. status First, quo nature of the industry with respect to run is economic necessity, the picture The major companies making are would be considered an acceptable workers are in the short profits, rate of return. in a position to resist a explained by several is similar to the paper although they are far below what Secondly, the unions and the lowering of their compensation (which is the highest of any industry) due to the unions' ability to engage in secondary boycotts (under the Railway Labor Act) and the willingness of the unions to do so (that solidarity of the unions). is, the With the exception of the experience of the Florida East Coast Railway (that sought to operate trains in the face of a strike several decades back), none of the large railroads have contemplated full scale necessity bargaining. One railroad, Guilford, is a small regional carrier that did recently continue to operate in the face of a strike (until it was ordered to rehire workers via an emergency board and several arbitration decisions). It is interesting to note that now, Guilford has followed the route of several of the paper companies wherein the confrontation has been followed by reconciliation. Guilford has signed an encompassing contract with the United Transportation Union for form of union representation airlines and railroads is is all of the craft workers. This industrial preferred by management — common complaint a that they do not have the advantages of one union as is in found in the trucking industry. Returning is to the short-run status quo characterization of the railroad industry, it important to note that a range of approaches have developed as the companies have sought to achieve breakthroughs in manning levels and work rules. very ambitious problem-solving exercise with all CSX engaged in a of the unions and an imaginative package resulted that provided for substantial reductions of the workforce via early retirements and attrition, as well as a sharing of future benefits with the workers. However, the unions have not been able there is no support for the union leaders to sell the to engage package to their in the full members. Thus, range of ongoing, administrative negotiations that would be required to give life to the dramatic changes. Over the long run, the railroads are very much locked to their relationships into their route systems with the unions that are "on the property." The term we hear frequently mentioned by railroad management seeking to develop "leverage" as a way is that one way or another they are of compelling changes in operations. of major carriers have sought to break out pieces of the business parties or to place and them under subsidiaries that and sell them would enable management restructure operations and to renegotiate labor agreements. Some A number to third to of these efforts have been successful, but others have been effectively stopped by injunctions that unions have obtained from the courts. We believe much more of this testing of the limits will take place, given the pressures for change and the difficulty of conventional collective bargaining the in bringing about what management sees as the necessary adaptation. For moment, however, the railroad industry seems to have neither the impetus for necessity bargaining, nor the foundation for administrative bargaining. The Auto Supply Industry This industry presents a very interesting profile of a rapid decline in union density over the past ten to fifteen years. Yet, at the same time, there has been the emergence few remaining unionized in the facilities of a number of far-reaching problem-solving efforts to improve effectiveness and job security. In the short run, industry. The union change has proven difficult for management is to achieve in this very good position to resist concessions because in a it is more difficult to maintain production and deliveries during a strike (in contrast yvith the paper industry); there are often other firms ready to take over unfilled orders; and customers are pressuring firms inventories. to operate on just-in-time delivery basis Hence, the short-term potential for change has been labeled "low" and the resulting pattern Faced with a is in Table "status quo." many companies have avoided long-term strategy of shutting unionized plants Companies such as Eaton, TRW protracted discussion and pursued a down and opening new, nonunion and Dana, for example, have experienced precipitous drop in the percentage of their blue collar workers that are unionized. key element of the strategy of such firms management techniques aimed (assessing worker is at filling the the use of all of the latest human priorities, dispute resolution, high percentage of operating doubt, a A resource functions normally assumed by a union and sharing information). Motivating such moves are considerable economic pressures and labor costs that are No as 1 perceived need for change and with initial resistance from the unions and workers, facilities. reduced yvith a relatively costs. many companies have taken the escape option prematurely. It takes time to convince a workforce about the economic realities; sometimes two or three rounds of "education" and ratification votes are taken before members will accept substantial arrangements. And there is a majority of union changes in contractual work rules and compensation evidence to suggest that many workers can come to accept the necessity of change in order to meet competitive pressures. Where companies have been more patient, we find a dramatic emergence of administrative bargaining. For example, in the Budd Detroit Stamping Plant, which organized by the decline) that is UAW, is there has recently been a period of growth (after a long partly fueled by a range of successful administrative initiatives. These include a revitalized employee involvement program, the use of an autonomous team structure to manage the stamping die transition process, the extension of the team concept to quality issues, and the potential use of team structures for operations. Sustaining these new arrangements has required a all production more continuous form of administrative bargaining between line production managers and union leaders. As well, since there are parallel industrial relations staff developments in other Budd plants, the corporate and the international union leadership have found it necessary to bring together the key members of both bargaining teams on a quarterly basis throughout the term of the current contract. management (UAW) and leaders a major parts supply plant in the Rochester Products Division of General Motors have found morning) Similarly, the top union in order to it necessary to meet on a weekly basis (every Monday administer an extensive employment security program. Thus, in the auto supply industry, the short-term picture has been constrained for many parties, while the long-term picture features two divergent extremes. On the one hand, contentious relations go beyond necessity bargaining to the elimination of the collective bargaining relationship. On the other hand, far-ranging administrative bargaining has been associated with fundamental transformation in industrial relations. PART II: IMPLICATIONS FOR THEORY AND PRACTICE Necessity bargaining and administrative bargaining both involve negotiations over issues of fundamental change, which are outside the traditional agenda that parties usually bring to the collective bargaining table. However, necessity and administrative bargaining represent very different paths toward these issues. In this section of the paper, different paths. we will surface the implications for theory and practice of the Implications for Practitioners: Necessity Bargaining As we have suggested above, managers number of in a industries are what they the bargaining table with positions that are rooted in see as coming to economic which we have termed "necessity bargaining." The managers are often necessity, become surprised, however, to find that bargaining over such matters does not a joint problem-solving process over how best to respond to competitive pressures. Instead, the negotiations can deteriorate into a highly contentious proceeding. deterioration occur around issues ranging from number of job One key premium pay on weekends seen this to the classifications. factor in the deterioration of necessity bargaining into a low-trust, high conflict set of relations is the failure of both labor and management there are more than the obvious substantive issues on the table. management demand for reduced classifications management preference traditional We have may for flexibility — reflect it may to recognize that For example, a more than just a be seen by managers as an indispensable component of their competitive survival as a firm. For labor, the demand for reduced classifications previously won may be seen not only as an encroachment on benefits, but as a threat to the very institutional security of the union. Thus, for both parties, there are survival issues at stake that go well beyond the specifics of work rule changes. Recognizing the existence and the legitimacy of these deeper survival issues is a key step toward avoiding the deterioration of necessity bargaining. At an interactive level, recognition and checking to may take the form of each side being explicit about what ensure that it understands what is is at stake at stake for the other side. At an institutional level, the existence of forums oriented toward problem-solving bargaining (joint committees, task forces, etc.) can play a It is what is critical, complementary role. important to note an interactive dilemma associated with being explicit about at stake for each side. This involves the risk that the acknowledgement of the other side's deeper interests not be construed as agreement with the other side's A position. related issue associated with necessity bargaining concerns distinguishing crisis pressures what is from at stake, it Even rhetoric. may if one side or the other not sound appreciably different tries to from past be explicit about management rhetoric about competitive pressures or past union rhetoric about institutional security. Typically, fundamentally deeper levels of information sharing are a necessary requirement order to distinguish present realities from past rhetoric. in Finally, the clear implication from the analysis in Section I on short-term and long-term options suggests that the use of necessity bargaining in the short-term be linked to a realistic evaluation of long-term options. Thus, have long-term flexibility, management is some form of reconciliation. This will eventually have to be followed by to suggest that the unfreezing quality of is a ill-advised. this point is, There is some hard short-term strategy some important managerial gains without irreparable damage The evidence on paper mill does not predicable that even the most hard-edged strategy by not to say that a hard-edged short-term strategy evidence to it is if a may lead to the relationship. however, incomplete. Implications for Practitioners: Administrative Bargaining For many practitioners, the bargaining associated with many new employment issues contrasts strongly with the bilateral, periodic set of adversarial interactions that typically characterize collective bargaining. found with respect and safety, to to issues New patterns of negotiations can be ranging from training, new technology, to to employee involvement, employee assistance programs, to health to job security, to absenteeism, to health care, to strategic planning. Setting aside current debates over whether bargaining over wages and benefits has also changed (Freeman, 1986; Mitchell, 1985), there is substantial evidence that, on the above range of issues, the negotiations involves a more continuous, multilateral decision-making process that we have termed "administrative bargaining." As parties expand the scope of issues that they are willing to address via administrative bargaining, they quickly learn that a joint administrative responsibility 10 for a given program area docs not mean that they will only face easy, consensus Rather, fundamental disagreements will periodically emerge regarding decisions. program specifics and even broad goals. We feel that such conflicts are inevitable in any mixed-motive relationships. As such, the clear implication for practitioners is to anticipate that conflict will emerge in course of joint initiatives. At the engage level of interpersonal interaction, in clear important becomes important to be able to confrontations without engendering defensiveness, as well as to engage and other communications in active listening it is it to Equally, at an institutional level, skills. ensure that formal and informal mechanisms for dispute resolution exist side-by-side with the joint administrative structures. we would Ultimately, hypothesize that legitimizing competing interests would lead to stronger programs, even though the administration might be more complex. Because administrative bargaining involves a more continuous there are a number of aspects of bargaining strategy that stand in contrast with the strategies associated with periodic collective bargaining. impasse threats, and other forms of leverage become make possible to are not written set of interactions, a series of small (or "nickel down — without First, the much more nature of deadlines, subtle. Second, it is and dime") agreements — many of which fully assessing the sum agreements. Third, total of the highly effective innovations do not necessarily diffuse or become institutionalized. Finally, the result of more continuous administrative bargaining is that new channels of communications and decision making are established. The implications course, is relations. that it is for practitioners involved in relations, of periodically necessary to step back and assess the administrative In this regard, we have found critical to assess current status collective bargaining innovations, which more continuous is may off-site strategic planning sessions are often and explore redirection. Equally, we have found that a particularly valuable forum for codifying successful suggest a strong interdependency between the more informal and continuous administrative bargaining and the more formal, periodic collective bargaining. Still, there are unanswered questions regarding the power implications of 11 side-by-side administrative bargaining and collective bargaining. For example, are union leaders constrained from distributive tactics because of their administrative responsibilities or is management more vulnerable to distributive tactics (such as holding joint programs hostage) or are both limits present? Often, the interests of various stakeholders within labor (such as officers, appointees, stewards, skilled trades, distinctions between line production etc.) and within management (especially management and staff) become more sharply distinguished in the course of administrative bargaining. Equally, new stakeholders (such as outside customers, outside suppliers and communities) take on active roles. The result is greater intraorganizational tensions and a more multi-lateral form of bargaining. To some extent, parties have responded by making the negotiations among these multiple parties more explicit. For example, production operations that are dependent on one another may refer to each other as internal suppliers and internal customers as they bargain over each other's quality, schedule and cost requirements. As well, outside stakeholders structures. direct Still, may new be given formal "seats at the table" for certain administrative there are deep questions to be addressed regarding mechanisms for and indirect participation by various labor and management stakeholders in administrative bargaining. Specifically, in what ways does ongoing administrative bargaining reinforce or undercut union democracy and the managerial chain of command? Ultimately, the challenges of administrative bargaining operate both at the level of interpersonal interaction and at an institutional level. At the interpersonal the initial challenges concern building a capacity to bargain over is, establishing joint administrative initiatives requires a how level, to bargain. That form of negotiations over the norms for interaction associated with administrative bargaining. At an institutional level, labor and management leaders are really engaged in a process of crafting governance (Savoie and Cutcher-Gershenfeld, 1989), whereby the parties are constructing new institutional arrangements within 12 which they will then operate. Implications for Theory If, as we would argue, industrial relations in the United States has entered a period where there are deep changes occurring in the patterns of interaction, we must consider what theories will best aid us in understanding the changes. In this regard, we have found that many of the principles derived from a behavioral perspective on negotiations have proven particularly powerful. However, we have found ourselves extending the Walton and McKersie (1965) framework beyond the relatively stable, periodic, and bilateral processes of collective bargaining. Indeed, negotiations, we examine if we each dimension. sec that recent events surface As a field, 1. How 2. How these extremes that have It is them here by way of others. the four dimensions of the 1965 behavioral theory of labor illustration we feel that some of the most extreme aspects of mapped our research agenda. We list and by way of invitation for further research by we need to know more about: distributive dynamics can deteriorate in the course of necessity bargaining and destroy a labor-management relationship. integrative dynamics can expand via administrative bargaining and a labor-management relationship. transform 3. 4. How intraorganizational dilemmas are becoming more sharply articulated and how they now exist side-by-side with an emerging set of multilateral dilemmas associated with parties in addition to labor and management. How attitudinal structuring becomes bargaining over the very norms and assumptions that frame negotiations. Deeper understanding along these dimensions promises to fully embed current alternative dispute resolution initiatives within a broader conception of the changing nature of U.S. labor-management relations. Further, the analysis promises deepen and extend our understanding of the nature and dynamics of a transformation industrial relations. assist unions in facing in Finally, it is via such an analysis that we may facing fundamental institutional questions and profound competitive pressures. 13 how in U.S. better learn to assist how to employers REFERENCES Cutchcr-Gcrshenfeld, Joel. "Tracing a Transformation in Industrial Relations: The Case of Xerox Corporation and the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union." Washington, U.S. Department of Labor Freeman, Richard. "In Search of D.C.: Union Wage Concessions in (1988). Standard Data Sets" in Industrial Relations Vol. 25, No. 4 (Spring 1986). . Kochan, Thomas, Harry Katz, and Robert McKersie. 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